


The right side of rock bottom

by lizhero6



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 13:57:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizhero6/pseuds/lizhero6
Summary: When Lance's family loses everything after his father's company got caught up in a fraud scandal, they are forced to move from the big city to a small town in Michigan. His once luxurious life changes drastically, but he manages to keep himself busy with his new job at Shiro's bakery - especially with acting as a match-maker for his new boss.But when Mysterious Mullet Man enters the bakery on a cold and snowy morning, Lance finds himself a new mission - to find out exactly who this strange, but fascinating guy is.





	1. Chapter 1

When my father had left us for his monthly business trip to Los Angeles, nothing had seemed wrong. He was as jolly as always, promising to bring back some Californian designer stuff for us when he would return home to New York. He had kissed us on both of our cheeks just before he got a cab to the airport, all just like the routine we were used to.

But on Saturday night, one day after he had departed, the phone rang with an eerie tone. I immediately sensed something was wrong as soon as I picked up and heard him say “ _hello_ ”. Normally he would never call that late at night.

It turned out he had lost the company because of a fraud scandal that he wasn’t even a part of – one of his employees was. Of course he was going to bring it to court, but in the meantime, there was nothing we could do but wait.

But losing the fortune we always had, meant giving up certain things. It meant giving up spending money on unnecessary things and selling stuff we didn’t really need anymore. One of those way too expensive things was our huge house back in the Upper East Side of New York City.

And that was how we ended up moving to the coastal town of Petoskey, Michigan. It was my father’s childhood home, so it was only natural for him to choose this place. I couldn’t exactly say I hated it – it was still a nice and beautiful town, but hell, did I miss the hectic and always busy New York. New York had always been my home, I had lived there since I was a baby. And leaving it behind, hurt.

What had hurt the most, was leaving my friends. Pidge, Hunk and I had been friends for years and we were used to seeing each other at least a few times each week. Now, those weekly meetings had turned into weekly Skype phone calls and daily texting, but it just wasn’t the same. I missed them a lot and I wasn’t too sure if I would ever get to see them in person again.

To help support my family, I managed to find a part-time job at a small bakery in the middle of town. It wasn’t the most exciting job in the world and it didn’t pay very well, but I knew we needed every amount of extra money we could get.

The shop owner was still a quite young guy, probably somewhere around his mid twenties. His name was Takashi Shirogane, but on my first day, he insisted that I’d call him ‘Shiro’ since it was a much easier name to pronounce. He was extremely nice to everyone surrounding him, and whenever there were leftovers at the end of the day, he’d let me take them home to share with my family.

This whole thing had definitely brought my family closer together than we had ever been. Since our move, me and my eldest sister Rose hadn’t even fought once. While in New York, we used to clash almost daily, spending hours arguing about the stupidest shit. But this whole ordeal had changed her a lot, too. The hours she would normally spend on beauty stuff were now spent on doing the housework. Her typical layers of makeup and hair extensions had been replaced by a more natural bare face and a simple ponytail. It made her look tired, but it also suited her in a way.

I knew that we all had to work together to make this thing work until the case could be taken to court. Dad was trying the best he could, but I could see he was getting exhausted from the endless phone calls and meetings with lawyers.

Hell, even I was tired. But I wasn’t the type of person to give up that easily, so I just decided to wait until everything could finally be solved.  


* * *

  
While weeks passed, Winter started to make its appearance in Petoskey. The roadside trees were completely bare and the temperatures had dropped so much that I could see my breath in the air as I was walking towards the bakery in the early morning. The sky was no longer blue and sunny like it had been the day before. Instead it had turned grey, and I predicted the first snow of the season was going to fall soon.

“Morning,” I greeted Shiro as I entered the bakery.

He was turned around to place some fresh baked bread in the racks, but took a moment to look over to smile at me. “Good morning, Lance! Getting cold out there, isn’t it?”

I shivered. “Yeah, it’s starting to feel like you’re walking into a freezer. Don’t like it at all.”

“That’s Michigan weather for you. Cold winters, hot summers. You’ll get used to it eventually,” he commented while he put a decorated sponge cake into the cake display.

I recognized that cake immediately and started to grin. “Aaah, so _she_ is stopping by today, isn’t she?”

_She_ was a gorgeous dark-skinned, grey-haired woman named Allura, who placed an order for a decorated sponge cake every single week. Every time she came in, Shiro started to become all shy and flustered so it was obvious he had a huge crush on her. It was kind of cute to see him act like that.

Shiro’s cheeks turned a tad red. “Maybe, yeah.” Suddenly, his expression turned all serious again. “But I’m warning you, Lance, no flirting. Last week was embarrassing enough already.”

“Ahh Shiro, are you serious? Whenever I see a beautiful woman, I just _have_ to flirt with her. It’s kinda like my second nature, y’know?”

He rolled his eyes, laughing. “Too bad she’s way too old for you, buddy. Maybe you should go find a girl your own age, I’m sure there are lots of nice ones out here who would love to go out with a handsome fellow like you.”

“Alright, alright. Allura is all yours,” I gave in with a smirk. “But you really have to make a move if she comes in, okay? If you want, I could-“

“Nah-ah, don’t think so. Now if you could get the next batch of tarts out of the oven for me, that would be something I’d really appreciate.”

“As you please, master.” I bowed to him before disappearing into the bakery, leaving Shiro with a shaking head and a smile on his lips.  


* * *

  
I noticed Shiro became more and more nervous by the minute while we were waiting for Allura to stop by and pick up her cake. He was unable to stand still, pacing around the tiny bakery constantly.

When we finally saw the gorgeous lady in question pass by the window before coming in, he stopped and stared at her, holding his breath for a few seconds.

She greeted us with a smile. “Good morning, gentlemen, I’m here to pick up my order. I assume it’s already waiting for me?”

“Y-yes, it’s in the display over here,” Shiro spoke up with a red glow on his cheeks. “I hope you like it.”

She glanced through the glass of the display and nodded. “It’s marvelous! Your decorations are definitely the best in town, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled nervously. “T-thank you.”

Oh God, he really was embarrassing himself again. This guy had absolutely no clue about how to impress a lady at all. I knew I had said I wasn’t going help him, but it was so tempting to just step in and end this awkward situation.

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat. “Would you like me to put it in a box, madam?”

It was a simple question and the answer was already obvious, but it was the only way to help Shiro out without being too evident about the flirting thing.

“Oh, yes please,” Allura answered. “I wouldn’t want to damage it while I’m carrying it home.”

Shiro blinked. “You are walking? In these weather conditions? Looking at that sky, it can start to snow at any moment now.” He suddenly didn’t seem that shy anymore.

“It’s alright, it’s only a twenty minute walk.” She gently brushed a hand through the ends of her hair to untangle the long strands.

Before Shiro could say anything, I offered my ingenious idea to him. “But just look at how grey it is outside, it’s practically snowing already! I’m sure it would be safer and far more comfortable for you if mister Shiro could drive you home with our van.”

Shiro shot a shocked look at me, but I just grinned as I realized the brilliance of this plan. Those two would get to spend at least ten minutes alone in the van together, which gave them enough time to casually talk to each other and get to know each other a bit better. Hopefully, Shiro would even have the courage to finally ask her out.

I could see on his face that he wanted to say something, but Allura spoke before him. “That would actually be really nice, then the cake would surely arrive home without a scratch.” She seemed to enjoy this idea, judging by the huge smile on her face.

“B-but will you be alright on your own, Lance?” Shiro reluctantly asked me.

“Sure! It will only be a little while and it won’t be that busy with this weather going on, so I’ll be fine,” I assured, persuading him even more to actually do this.

He nodded, showing a bit more confidence. “Then it’s settled. Lance, would you please box the cake so we can take it to miss Allura’s home?”

“Oki doki, just a second!”

As I turned around to get a box, the biggest grin formed itself. Lance the matchmaker was back in business, and he had struck once again.  


* * *

  
Watching the store for half an hour had seemed like an easy task when I first thought of it. But since no customers had entered after Shiro and Allura had left on their little flirtatious drive, boredom had struck me after just ten minutes.

But just as I wanted to retreat to the back of the bakery for a moment, the door flew open and a guy dressed up in the thickest clothing stepped inside the store. He was dressed like there was already a big snow storm happening, even though the actual snow wasn’t even there yet.

“Good morning,” I greeted him, just like I did with any other customer.

“Morning,” he replied while removing his beanie from his head. His hair now became visible, revealing black strands including a mullet. Who the hell still had a mullet these days?

I leaned over the counter. “So, what can I get for you?”

“Uhm… I would like bread,” he just replied, avoiding eye contact.

“What kind would you like?” I asked him, leaning over some more.

He seemed deep in thought for a moment. “Brown bread, I think.”

I could just stop myself from becoming even more annoyed by asking him what kind of brown bread he would like, but since he apparently was having a hard time deciding what he wanted, I decided to give him a break.

So I just grabbed one random brown bread from the shelf and showed it to him. “Is this one okay for you?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess that will do.”

As I turned to the bread slicer, I decided to be a bit bolder. “So you never bought bread before, I guess?”

“Mhm,” he answered, which I hadn’t expected him to do. “Harder than it seems, apparently.”

“That’s alright, before I started working here, I didn’t even have any idea there were so many kinds of bread,” I said to him as I put his bread in a bag. “That would be $1.50, please.” He reached into his pocket to grab some money before he handed it over to me. “Thank you, kind sir. And here is your very first purchased bread.”

“Thanks,” he replied, taking the bread of the counter I had placed it on. “Well, goodbye then.”

“Have a nice day!” I said, putting on my customer smile.

The black-haired stranger showed a soft smile as he made his way towards the door, leaving me behind in my boredom once again. But just before he opened the door, he turned around.

“I’m sorry, but… Can I ask you something?”

“Sure?” I answered, a bit startled.

He nervously stared at the ground at first, then he turned his eyes on me. “Have you been living here for a long time?”

I shook my head. “Just a few weeks actually, still getting used to it.”

“Glad I’m not the only one,” he said with another smile, opening the door and disappearing into the outside world.  


* * *

  
Shiro returned about an hour after he had left, looking rather giddy and happy. The snow had finally started to flutter down, leaving a white, shimmery layer on the street.

“I assume things went well with Allura?” I guessed with a smirk on my lips.

His cheeks turned slightly red again, but he was getting all smiley as well. “Yes, it went well. I’m sorry about returning so late.”

“You’re _sorry_?” I blinked in disbelief. “You shouldn’t be sorry, you should just tell me how you wooed that lady!”

He started to laugh. “We just talked about things we have common, nothing really that special.”

“And?”

“Aaaand we have agreed to meet up on Saturday to have coffee together,” he told me with a proud smile.

I almost jumped into the air. “Yes, I knew it! Matchmaker Lance did it again!”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess I have to thank you for helping me out. I wasn’t sure it was going to work at first, but it all turned out just fine.” He gave me a shoulder pat as a _thank you_. “And did anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

“Nope, just sold some bread and stuff, nothing too exciting,” I lied to him, not mentioning the mysterious mullet man to Shiro.

I had no idea who M.M.M was, but I kind of hoped to see him again soon, even though I didn’t even know why I hoped I would. I just knew that I wanted to find out who he was and where he was from, because he reminded me of someone I knew all too well – myself.


	2. Chapter 2

The snow returned heavily the day after. It had started early in the morning during my walk towards the bakery and it kept falling down until the evening, leaving behind a thick layer of white sparkles everywhere.

I was glad I didn’t have to work the next day, since Shiro expected it wouldn’t be too busy with all the extreme weather going on. But staying home was no option for me on this day off. I knew that staying inside with my dad and Rose all day would drive me mad.

Call me crazy, but I decided that today was a good day to drive to the forest and do some exploring in the ice cold snow. I actually  _ drove  _ with a car through a heavy snow storm. Looking back on it, I was absolutely out of my mind, but it was a decision I couldn’t even regret.   
  


* * *

  
The drive to the forest wasn’t even that difficult. I was able to drive all the way up there without any incidents, not even a minor slip.

But just as I entered the main road of the state park, the car started to struggle. Weird and loud noises were coming from the engine and suddenly, it just stopped completely.

“What the –,” I muttered as I barely managed to park the vehicle at the side of the road. “You  _ have  _ to be kidding me.”

Annoyed, I emerged from the car to take a look at the engine. After pulling up the hood, I decided it was best to turn on my phone’s flashlight as it was too dark in there to see anything at all. But luck definitely was not on my side today.

My phone slipped out of my hands, falling onto the engine with the screen facing down. As I heard shattering, I already knew this wasn’t going to be good. I quickly retrieved it, but the screen had already broken into a bazillion little pieces. Pushing the  _ on _ button didn’t do anything, the screen just remained black.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I cursed out loud.

How the hell was I ever going to get away from here without my phone? I just hoped there was someone else out there in this middle of nowhere, or else I would be in serious trouble.

“Hello, is someone out there? I could use some help here!” I screamed as loudly as I could, hoping at least someone would hear me. “Helloooooo! Anybody?”

Answers didn’t follow, of course. Who the hell would be crazy enough to be here at a time like this? If I wanted to get out of here, I needed to take matters into my own hands. If I wanted to find help, I would need to start looking for it.   
  


* * *

  
So I started to walk, hoping to encounter somebody or at least something that had a phone inside. I walked for about half an hour, trembling from the cold but determined to find something that could save me.

And then, it finally happened.

The sight of a house in the distance made me let out a relieved sigh. I hoped there really be would be someone there, or else my problem still wasn’t solved. If there wasn’t anyone around, I could still break in to protect myself from the cold. You were allowed to do those kind of things during an emergency, right?

As I approached the house, I started to get nervous. What if someone was home but they still didn’t want to help me out? What would I do then?

I stepped on the porch, readying myself to ring the bell while working up the courage to do so.  _ Don’t be such a wimp, Lance. Just do it. _

I pushed the bell with my finger, letting out another sigh which left a small cloud in the cold winter air. The typical sound could be heard inside and I swore there really was someone in there because I heard some movement as well.

Footsteps approached the door, but it wasn’t opened. Instead, I heard someone yell from the other side. “If you are here to sell things, I’m not interested!”

“I’m sorry, I’m not here to sell you stuff!” I yelled back. “My car broke down and I just wanted to ask if I could use your phone to call the garage.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I guess. Just a minute.”

I heard some shuffling behind the door before it finally opened up. When a door is opened, you usually expect to see the face of the person who opened it. But what I saw, was something I never expected to see. 

The guy who had let me in was wearing a balaclava which only showed his eyes and his mouth. I knew it was very cold, but so cold that he needed to wear  _ that _ ? And not only was he wearing that weird thing, he was holding a  _ freaking _ shovel in one of his hands.

“What the hell, dude?!” I squealed, starting to feel slightly terrified by this weird guy. I knew this was going to end badly.

He was immediately scared, dropping the shovel while he took a step back. “I-I thought you were going to rob me or something.” 

Well, at least that explained the balaclava and the shovel.

“What the _ fuck _ ? I’m just here to use your phone, but it’s alright, I’ll go already,” I exclaimed while I started to turn around, ready to get away from here as soon as possible . Damn, I was so done with this bullshit already. 

“N-no, wait, please,” he called, reaching a hand out for me. “I don’t want to scare you, I… I recognize you.”

I stopped, looking at him. He knew me? Then who –

As he reached towards the balaclava and slowly removed it, I started to recognize him too. Pale skin, grayish eyes, jet black hair… Mysterious Mullet Man was standing right before me, looking at me with a dazed glance. 

“You were in the bakery the other day,” I stated.

He nodded. “I’m sorry for behaving like this, I was just really nervous. Usually, people just don’t come by here.”

“I-it’s okay,” I said to him, not sure if I actually meant it or not. I was just too astonished to think clearly right now.

“Do you still want to use the phone?” he asked calmly.

“Y-yeah, please.”

He smiled softly. “Come in, it’s cold outside. My phone is in the living room anyway.”

I didn’t even reply, I just followed him in, closing the door behind me. I gazed around the living room as I entered it, taking in the environment. It looked kind of cozy, like one of those lodges you stayed in if you went skiing. Almost everything was made from wood, and there was a huge fireplace which was burning at the moment.

“This is a nice house,” I spoke again. “Is it yours?”

Another nod before he grabbed the phone and handed it to me. “Sit down if you want to. Can I get you something to warm up? I think I can manage to make some coffee or tea or something like that,” he offered.

“Coffee sounds great, thanks. Definitely need one, I’m kinda having a rough day, y’know.” Good, I started to act like myself again. 

“Sure, I’ll prepare it while you call whoever you need to call.” He left the living room, leaving me all alone as I took a seat on the nearest couch. 

I was so glad I knew my dad’s phone number by heart. It didn’t took too long for him to pick up, he was practically sleeping with his phone these days. “Hello, you’re speaking with Charles McClain,” he answered.

“Hey dad, it’s me. I kinda have a problem going on. The car broke down because of the weather and I smashed my own phone, so I’m calling from someone else’s right now. Could you maybe call the garage so they can pick me and the car up?”

I heard him sigh on the other side. “Oh Lance, we really can’t use any extra repair costs at the moment.”

A guilty feeling punched me right in my gut. “I know. I promise I’ll pay for it myself, whatever the costs are. I can ask Shiro if I would be able to work some more.”

“Where are you right now? I’ll call the garage and will let them know.” He sounded stressed, but I was glad he was still going to take care of it.

“Near the State Park, the car is parked on near the main road. I’ll walk back there soon,” I explained.

“Alright, I’ll call them right away. Stay safe out there, son.”

I sighed. “Thanks, dad. See you soon.” I hung up right away, I felt too guilty to even continue talking to him.

As soon as I put the phone back on the coffee table, I started to wonder where Mysterious Mullet Man had gone. If he was actually making coffee, shouldn’t he be done already?

“Hey man, is everything going alright back there?” I called out to him. 

I heard some noise coming from a room that I supposed was the kitchen. “Uhm, could you maybe help me out for a moment?” a very insecure voice asked me.

“Coming!” I stood up, moving towards the noise.

I found the guy standing over a coffee machine, looking very unsure about what to do. “I thought I could do this, but I have no idea how this works.”

“You never made coffee before?” I assumed right away.

“I’m not a coffee drinker, so no. But I thought this was going to be easy, though it’s definitely not.” 

I laughed softly. “Alright, I’ll show you.” Quite quickly, I demonstrated how to insert the cup in the machine and pushed a button, which started the process of making the actual coffee. “See, it’s not that hard.”

“Thank you, uh…” He stopped for a moment. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. And you probably still don’t know mine either, how rude of me.”

“It’s okay. The name’s Lance.” I offered him my hand, which he shook. “Lance McClain,” I added.

“Nice to meet you, Lance. I’m Keith Kogane.” He smiled at me, looking very pleased for some reason.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “It’s nice to meet you too,” I replied, actually meaning it. He was awkward and a bit weird, but I did like him. He seemed like a nice enough person to hang out with.

“Shall we go back to the living room, now that you have your coffee?” he proposed, taking his own glass of water in his hand before handing me my cup.

I nodded in agreement and we both walked back towards the maroon colored couch I had sat on earlier, taking a seat next to each other. The warmth of the fireplace radiated on my skin, it was a nice feeling after being out in the cold for so long.

“I should go back after finishing this though, my father called the garage to pick up my car and I really should be there when they arrive,” I informed him right away.

“Is it a long walk?” he asked, taking a sip from his glass.

“About half an hour. It’s just by the main road.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right? You really walked that long through this kind of weather?”

I wished I was joking, but unfortunately, I was not. “You gotta do something when your phone screen is smashed into a thousand little pieces and you want to go home.”

“And then you arrive at my house and I show up at the door looking like a criminal, wanting to knock you out with a shovel,” he said, laughing softly between his words. “I’m such a dick, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay, I’m over it. I’m still glad you let me in to use your phone,” I spoke with a slight smile on my lips. I wanted to make him feel a little better about being so awkward.

He smiled back at me. “Hey, I have a car so I could take you to yours. Save you some time and energy,” he offered me.

I almost wanted to scream.  _ Yes, yes please! _ But I managed to control myself and just answer politely. “That would be great! Thank you, Keith.”   
  


* * *

  
As soon as I had finished my coffee, Keith and I hopped into his car to drive to mine. Before we left, we had chatted a little bit more about my job at the bakery, but he didn’t dare to ask me more personal stuff. And I didn’t dare ask him, either.

I knew I said yesterday that I wanted to find out everything about him – who he was exactly, where he came from and why he didn’t know anything about simple things like buying bread or making coffee. But for some reason, I didn’t have the courage to ask him. Maybe it was just too early to get into those kind of details.

“Is that your car over there?” Keith asked after about five minutes, looking at a white car on the side of the road.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

He pulled over and for a second, I already wanted to get out of the car and just wait inside mine until they came to pick it up, but something didn’t feel right about that. I wanted to stay with Keith just for a little longer.

“Do you mind waiting with me? The company would be nice and it’s nice and warm in here,” I made up as an excuse.

“Sure, I don’t mind at all,” he immediately replied, a slight curl could be spotted in the corners of his mouth.

My eyes wandered over to him and I couldn’t help but smile too. I wondered if we could become friends in the long run, it was something I sure would like, even though I still missed Pidge and Hunk terribly. No one could ever replace them, but it would be nice to have somebody to hang out with in Michigan too. I certainly would feel less alone if I had someone around.

“Hey Keith,” I started. “Would there be any way to keep in touch after this? My phone probably won’t work for a while, but I’m sure there are other ways. But only if you want to, of course.”

He looked at me, a twinkle appearing in his grey-blue eyes. “Y-Yes, I would like that. Maybe I could just stop by the bakery again, I do need new bread after I eat all of mine.”

“That’s a good idea. Good thinking,” I complimented him with a grin.

A pair of bright headlights appeared on the white, glittering road. My saviors were finally here to take me home, but truth be told, I actually wanted to curse them right now. Them showing up meant having to say goodbye to Keith, something I didn’t want just yet.

But I knew I had too. “I guess that’s my cue. Thank you so much, I owe you,” I thanked him again as I began to prepare to enter the outside world.

“Nah, you don’t. I’ll see you soon, Lance. Good luck!”

“See you soon, hopefully. Be safe out there!” I wished him well.

He smiled at me one last time as I opened the door and left him alone in the car. It was cold outside, but I was left with a warm feeling as he drove away and waved at me, just before he disappeared again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thank you for reading my fic! c:  
> Please keep in mind that English isn't my first language, so some mistakes can happen occasionally.  
> Also, kudos and comments are more than welcome and appreciated!  
> I hope you'll enjoy this little fic I came up with while being stuck in Klance hell~
> 
> P.S. A huge thank you to Mari for being my beta reader. <3


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